All Hail the Queen (the There Can Be Only One remix)
by DragonyPhoenix
Summary: Remix of dierd1's Infestation. An exploration of the similarities between Mary Sues and Mean Girls / Queen Bees (or, in this case, Queen C).
1. Knock-off

With the water of the fountain splashing behind her, Willow stared over at Xander. If he was running to form, he'd be telling Cordelia – and just what did he see in her anyway? 'Cause he'd hated her since forever and suddenly he was kissing her in the library? What was up with that? – that Oz was a werewolf in three … two … one …

"What?!"

Yep, guess he'd told her. Only Cordelia wasn't even looking at Xander. She was staring out towards the street where … Oh. Willow had heard there was a new girl but she hadn't expected anyone this glamourous. Willow was almost certain she'd seen the girl modeling in a magazine or something except she didn't really read that kind of magazine. Maybe Buffy had shown it to her? The girl's golden tan seemed to highlight her lavender eyes, but no, lavender was too pink … periwinkle, maybe they were periwinkle. No, that wasn't quite right either. Purple? No, too dark. Amethyst, that's it. The eyes were the color of amethysts, sparkling in the sunshine of her golden tan.

"Where did you get that dress? This is a one-of-a-kind Todd Oldham." Cordelia tried to grab the girl's arm but pulled her hand back fast, almost as if she'd been shocked. "Ow."

"Of course it's a one-of-a-kind." Wow, that girl's voice was so … so … Willow wasn't sure there was a word to describe such a pure vocalization. "When Toddie first saw me, he practically tripped over himself he was so excited to design the perfect dress for me. I'm sorry that knockoff looks so drab on you. I'm sure if you tried you could find an outfit that suits your sallow completion.

The girl continued up towards the school and Willow almost couldn't breathe as she walked past. Who was she?

"Xander." Wow, Willow'd never realized how harsh Cordelia's voice sounded.

"Yowza! Who was that girl?"

"Xander!"

"What?"

"What do you mean what? Pick your tongue up off the floor. You're with me, remember?"

"Am I?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I tell you something wigsome …"

Cordelia waved that off. "So Oz is a werewolf. Big deal. I know to avoid him during the full moon. Can't you see I'm in a crisis here?"

"Crisis? Bigger than being a werewolf?"

"Much. Didn't you see that girl attack me?"

"Attack? What attack? If anything, you grabbed her."

"She tried to upstage me. Upstage me! I can't have that. I'm Queen C. I have an image to maintain."

"Well, I wish your image would include treating me with a bit of respect."

"Maybe you should respect me enough to value what's important to me."

"Oh, yeah, 'cause a stupid dress is so much more important than your boyfriend's feelings."

"See, that's exactly what I mean. You don't even understand why this is a big deal, not that I'd expect you to given what you generally wear. A Hawaiian shirt? Really? Did you pick it out of the garbage behind the Goodwill?"

"That's … that's … Hey!" he called after her. "We're not done here."

"Don't be an idiot. Of course we are. I've got damage control."

Xander watched Cordelia until she'd vanished into the school before joining Willow at the fountain. "Didn't your Mom pick that up at the Goodwill?"

"Yeah, but it was bought and paid for. I don't know what she was thinking, saying I'd picked it out of the trash."

"Xander, you've know Cordelia since kindergarten. What did you think dating her was gonna be like."

"Less ragging on me and a lot heavier with necking in the janitor's closet for one."

Willow rose to her feet. "Stop it right there, mister. I really don't want to know."


	2. Marr e'Zu

Willow stared into her locker, wondering if the day could get any worse, and was that really a good thing to think about? Because you know, Hellmouth, and who knew what kind of vibes it could pick up and make real and maybe a demon could be sneaking up on her right now just because she was thinking about it and …

"You know …"

"Buffy!"

"Gee, jumpy much?"

"I'm not jumpy, well not so much with the jumpy, it's just that I had thoughts, in my head, as I sometimes do and I wasn't expecting you to be right there."

"Uh huh."

"So, what were you about to say?"

"Huh? Oh, I was just wondering what was so interesting in your locker." Buffy peered in. "Books, books, and more books. Not so big with the worth staring into for five minutes. What's up?"

"Up? Who says there has to be something up? Couldn't I just be wondering what books to bring home?"

"Willow."

Darn it, she never could resist Buffy glare. "It's just Xander and Cordelia. I mean, just this morning they had this big fight about her dress, well, not about her dress as much as her being more concerned about what someone else was wearing than about Xander, and I don't know what he even sees in her anyway. I mean, I'd never be more worried about clothes than him."

"Willow, you're dating Oz. You can't be all obsesso-girl over Xander. Well, you can, but it's really not a good look."

"I know, and I'm happy with Oz, I am, but Xander and Cordelia, they were all big with the arguing this morning and then by third period they were ducking into the janitor's closet, where the cleaning supplies are kept, which can't be hygienic."

"Willow, I'm sure they're just kissing in there, or at least I hope it's just kissing." Buffy shook her head. "Ugh, scary visual. Anyway, I'm sure they're not contaminating the school."

"I suppose."

"Come on, Giles wants us at the library."

"Ooh, is there a new demon in town?"

"I know you didn't mean to sound that excited about a demon."

Xander, running, probably coming from doing unmentionable things in a closet, caught up with them just in time to hold the library door for them. "Thoughtful," Buffy said. "Looking for ways to impress the new girlfriend?"

Xander sort of shrugged but looked pleased with himself.

"You're not going to get anywhere with Cordelia without jewelry," Willow heard herself say.

Buffy turned and mouthed "meow" and Xander sort of slumped.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

With a shrug, Xander said, "You're not wrong."

"Ah good, you're all here." Giles stood near the library table which was covered with stacks of books. "Wasn't Cordelia going to join us?"

"Cheerleading practice," Xander said as he slumped into a chair at the far end of the table. Willow, wanting to sit next to him but figuring that maybe with that comment she'd made he might not want to sit next to her, sat at the other end. She tried smiling at him, but he wouldn't look her way.

"Ah, cheerleading, of course." Giles looked sort of dumbfounded, as if he couldn't understand why anyone would forgo a Scooby meeting for cheerleading. Willow wasn't about to tell him that girls like Cordelia made their own rules. After her earlier comment, it'd just sound mean even if it was true.

"So," Buffy said. "Demon? Portal? Ringing any bells? There aren't any bells, are there?"

"Ooh, like Pavolov's dogs, you ring the bells and the demons … uh, salivate? Okay, I'll be quiet now."

"Right," Giles said. "Let's get started. An entity has slipped into our world from the Marr e'Zu dimension."

"Is that bad?" Buffy asked.

"I'm afraid it's very bad." He opened one of his texts to a bookmarked passage. "Here, let me read it to you."

As Buffy rolled her eyes, Willow could almost hear her say, "Can't you just tell us?"

Giles, who apparently couldn't read Buffy's thoughts from an eye-roll, read from the text. "Reality bends to suit their purpose. They are all, and we, worthless. Smiles destroy us. Truth is a lie. All they touch will shrivel and die."

Buffy glanced around. "I think I speak for the group when I say 'huh?'"

"Well," Giles stammered. "I admit it is a bit difficult to follow, but I believe it describes someone who seems, to sum it up concisely, perfect. Reality bends to suit their purpose. Obviously that means everything goes their way. Everyone wants to be their friend, that sort of thing."

"Gee," Willow said. "Sounds just like Cordelia. Oops, did I say that out loud?"

"That's enough." Xander jumped to his feet. "I get that you don't like Cordy but she's my girlfriend now, and, well, I'm sick of you knocking her down."

Buffy rose, holding her hands out between the two of them. "Okay, okay, why don't we all just calm down."

Why was Buffy staring at her? Oh. "Um, Xander? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things." Even though they are true.

He dropped back into his seat. "Skip it. We've got bigger fish to fry."

"So Giles," Buffy said. "This demon is miss, or mister I suppose, popularity. Doesn't sound too menacing."

"It's not their popularity that's the problem. That's just a marker, a means of identifying the demon. They're also experts, the best in any given field, often in a wide variety of fields."

"Again, not with the big scary."

"Reality warps around them. People's lives are no longer their own. It touches on issues of free will. People become tools doing, well, whatever will make the demon happy."

Willow kept her lips zipped but it did sort of sound like Cordelia.

Buffy was staring at Giles. "This isn't some sort of April Fool's Day joke, is it? I mean the British version of April Fool's, whenever that is."

"That would be April the first, and no. I'm serious. I'll need you all to be on the lookout. Watch for anyone who's the center of attention, who always gets what he or she wants, who has unusual skills, that sort of thing."

Center of attention, Willow thought. Always gets what she wants. Still sounding like Cordelia.


	3. Snubbed

The next morning, Willow bypassed the fountain, where she usually waited for Buffy, and sat on the couch at the end of the hall near Cordelia's locker. The Cordettes weren't hanging around, which was sort of odd. Usually they stood around waiting for Cordelia to show and wasn't that exactly how it'd go for one of those Marr e'Zu demons with the followers waiting for them to show rather than having their own lives and other things to do? Only they weren't waiting this morning. Cordelia came around the corner like she owned the world and then her steps faltered. She grinned and picked up the pace but when she got to her locker, Cordelia looked around as if trying to figure out where they were and then slammed her locker shut. That didn't seem particularly like everything's going the demon's way. Oooh, but maybe those Marr e'Zu demons lost their power to cloud minds when you knew what they were so that Giles' realizing there was a demon loose could be making her less controley of those around her.

When Cordelia went off in search of her friends, Willow followed. They were standing in a hall where none of the Cordettes had a locker. Oooh, but there was that girl from yesterday, the one with the amethyst eyes and tresses as dark as the wings of a thousand ravens. Today she wore the most adorable little dress, white with a pattern of black flowers, it fell halfway down her thighs, hanging well above the tiny black pumps that matched it perfectly.

"What's going on?" As Cordelia addressed Harmony, Willow didn't see how she could ignore the other girl. The girl was so perfect and so graceful that Willow half-expected birds to fly out of nowhere to tie a ribbon, white of course to perfectly match the dress, into her hair.

"Oh, Cordy. What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing? What are you doing?"

The Cordettes all looked at amethyst eyes girl. When she smiled and nodded, Harmony replied. "I don't know what you mean."

"What are you doing here as in why are you physically at this location. We meet at my locker. We always meet at my locker."

Were amethyst eyes girls' highlights sparkling like the feathers of a grackle? "I'm sorry we've disrupted your routine." He voice sounded like the cooing of doves. "I couldn't be apart from my dearest Harmony for a moment more so they all came to my locker."

Cordelia tried that 'you are lower than worms' look she'd perfected over the years. It bounced off of amethyst eyes girl which, okay, did make sense. Someone who looked that perfect – and, wow, she had absolutely no blemishes. It was as if her skin had never even heard of the word pimple. – naturally wouldn't have any insecurities. She held out a hand and, boy, was her skin pale, like vampire pale except of course she couldn't be a vampire. How could anyone that amazing be a creature of the night? "Hi." The cooing of doves was absolutely the wrong metaphor for the girl's voice. It sounded as mellow as YoYo Ma's cello but not so deep. It had more of a girlish tone, but perfected as if maybe a viola had come to life and could speak. "I'm Aaliyah Kohana deBeauchamp. My name means exalted little flower. Everyone calls me Aaliyah. You're Cordy, right? "

Why didn't Cordy shake Aaliyah's hand? If Willow had the chance, she'd give up chocolate for a month for one touch of that smooth skin. "Exalted little flower? Right, because everyone knows that flowers are so superior."

Willow felt as if she were about to burst into tears. How could Cordy say something like that to Aaliyah? Okay, Cordelia was a big meanie, but there were limits.

The Cordettes looked as appalled as Willow felt, which was sort of strange, being on the same side as the Cordettes, but also made sense. Anyone would be upset if they'd heard how Cordy had treated Aaliyah … and didn't that name just sound like birds taking to wing? Aaliyah!

"You know, Cordy, there's no need to be mean."

Aaliyah's hand dropped on Harmony's shoulder lightly, like a butterfly landing on a iris. "Now, Harmony, you know I love you best and that's because you don't lower yourself." They all ignored Cordy's snort. "You don't resort to her tactics. We lead by example. We show her a better way, but of course we can only do so much. After all," she finished as she glanced at Cordy. "Breeding will tell."

They turned on a dime and walked off as one. Cordy called after. "I'll see you all at lunch, right?"

"Uh, sure," Tina called back as the others burst out laughing. Willow felt as if she should follow but she wasn't sure what they were laughing at. Maybe it was her and why would they want her around anyway? Cordy never had. As the bell rang for the first class, Willow turned to find her locker.


	4. The Great Gatsby

Xander hadn't come to find Willow between classes and now he was sitting with Cordy in the back of the classroom, and, okay, that's where Xander usually sat but Cordy usually sat up front. They'd moved their chairs together, not like actually touching or anything, but really, really close. They'd totally ruined the straight row of chairs and Willow couldn't believe that Ms. Miller hadn't called them out for it.

"Okay, class, let's get started. We're continuing our discussion of The Great Gatsby. While writing the novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald said, 'That's the whole burden of this novel – the loss of those illusions that give such color to the world so that you don't care whether things are true or false as long as they partake of the magical glory.' Who can tell me what he meant?"

Willow didn't raise her hand. How could she when that demon had her clutches on her Xander? Well, not her Xander because he certainly didn't belong to her or anything but as in her best friend, outside of Buffy that is, and he totally didn't know what kind of danger he was in being all under the influence of that reality warping demon. It made perfect sense now. Xander would never have fallen for Cordy without his mind being all controlled. Willow kept half an eye on them, wishing she'd sat further back so she could watch them better. It was sort of hard, keeping an eye on them while looking like she was paying attention to the class, but she wasn't letting Cordy take any more of her Xander.

"So," he said, completely ignoring Ms. Miller. "Giles was telling us last night about this new demon …" A tear rolled down Cordy's cheek. "Okay, and I'm thinking the demon isn't that bad. Look it's just …"

"Is that all you think about?" Cordy took a tissue from her purse and dabbed at her eyes, not even smudging her makeup which so was a sign that she was that demon. "Harmony wasn't even in our computer class, which, yeah, I get because who wants to sit with computers, but she wouldn't skip class without telling me, and when I looked for the rest of them, they were gone. What if some demon got them? That would be terrible. Okay, I look great in black – it's totally thinning – but to have all my friends go like that, how could I stand it?"

Wow, was she not listening to Xander at all? Of course! If she was the demon – Willow just knew she was the demon – then she wouldn't want to discuss it, wouldn't want anyone making comparisons between her and that description of the Marr e'Zu demon.

"Hey, I'm sure they're okay. They probably, you know, just took the day off or something, headed to the beach."

"They wouldn't." Cordelia didn't sound as confident as she normally would. "Not without me. In fact, how dare you suggest that they left me behind? I'm the queen. I decide where we go, whom we hang with, and when."

"Okay, okay, sorry. When they're not around, I'm usually just glad they're, you know, not around."

Willow felt her tummy drop. He used to feel that way about Cordelia, glad when she wasn't around. How long before the demon made him start liking her friends? Maybe she'd even change him, make him start wearing dressier clothes or maybe take up a sport. She had to prove that Cordelia was this Marr e'Zu demon.


	5. Talking About Boys

Willow couldn't follow Cordy all the time. Yeah, she had to keep track of the demon, but she also had schoolwork. It wasn't as if Cordy could get much demon stuff done before night fell anyway, right? That was the big demony time. So she headed home after school, got her work done, and went to the Bronze because, yeah, Cordy hadn't said she'd actually be there, but where else was she gonna go on a school night? Some kind of demon bar? Wait, were there even demon bars? What would that be like? No, if Cordy wanted to hang at demon bars, she wouldn't be at the Bronze all the time. Willow was sure she'd find Cordy there, well, mostly sure.

Cordy was at the Bronze, talking to Harmony near the stairs which meant that whatever Harmony had done earlier, she'd made up for it. See? That proved Cordy was the demon. She could just wave her hand and her friends came running back. Keeping one eye on the two of them, Willow edged toward the bar, wishing she could get closer. You'd think with how dark they kept the Bronze that it'd be easier to sneak up close and now that she had a better view, Harmony didn't seem all that comfortable which, yeah, she was talking to Cordy so that made sense, but Harmony usually liked being one of Cordy's minions.

"The beach? Harmony! You went to the beach without me?"

"Well, Aaliyah needed to work on her tan and nobody knew where you were."

"Really? Because it was so impossible to find me studying French, you know, in that class we take together." Cordy flipped her hair back. "I hope you enjoy detention since Snyder said that's what he'd give us if we skipped classes again."

"That just shows how much you know. When he caught us sneaking out, well not sneaking but leaving for the beach, Aaliyah explained how she needed the sun to keep her tan all glowing and golden and he said he was happy to contribute to the esthetics of our school."

Cordy's mouth fell open, just for a moment. Good, let's see how she liked being left out. "So, what did you do, sit around bored because none of you could think of anything intelligent to say?"

"I knew you'd be like this. Why do you think we didn't invite you? Aaliyah doesn't put me down. I'm her best friends. She doesn't think I'm an …"

"You're an idiot, Harmony. Can't you see that she's using you to get to me?"

"All I can see is that you're mean. Aaliyah's never mean. She says I'm special, just as I am."

"Special-needs maybe," Cordy muttered.

The room suddenly seemed lighter, almost as if the sun had come out from behind clouds which sort of didn't make sense since they were inside. Willow turned and saw … Aaliyah's dark raven tresses cascaded like a waterfall, flowing over her shoulders onto the most exquisite little black dress, which was the same exact shade as her hair. Her lips weren't bright red, which would have been too garish, but more of a muted color that seemed to glow in the highlights of her tanned, golden skin. "Harmony, dearest, how wonderful to see you again."

As Aaliyah and Harmony hugged, Willow felt a stab of jealousy. Why couldn't she have a friend like that? Yeah, Buffy was okay but, well, her hair did get sort of messy which wasn't really a fair comparison since, you know, she was busy killing vampires and stuff, but Willow just knew Aaliyah could take on a whole army of demons and not even break a fingernail. "Cordy," Aaliyah added, almost as an afterthought.

Cordy raised an eyebrow but didn't speak which was sort of rude because it seemed as if she couldn't even be bothered to say Aaliyah's name which really didn't make any sense. Aaliyah. It sounded like the wind wafting through the leaves, like a whispering fog on a cold brisk morning, like a …

"Why don't you introduce me to your friend?"

Willow glanced up. Introduce? Who did Aaliyah want to be introduced to? And why were they all staring at her?

"Willow?" Harmony asked. "Are you sure you want to meet Willow?"

"Willow." Wow, her name had never sounded like water bubbling through a creek before. "How lovely to meet you."

"Um, yeah, uh, hi." Me? You're talking to me?

"We were just going to sit. Why don't you join us?"

"Me? I mean, really? Uh, I mean, sure, I'd love to … if you really want me that is."

Aaliyah wrapped her arm through Willow's and, wow! They were almost touching skin to skin except Aaliyah's dress had long sleeves which was perfect, really perfect, because the dark dress enhanced her golden tan, it just meant that their skin wasn't touching.

"And just where do you think we're going to sit?" Cordy really shouldn't speak. Her voice was so harsh. "If you'd bothered to look around at all, you'd have seen that all the tables are taken."

Aaliyah's laugh sounded like chimes dancing in the wind. "Like that's a problem." With Willow walking beside – her arm still through Aaliyah's, so close Willow felt almost as if she couldn't breathe – Harmony and Cordy followed to the best table in the Bronze, one out of the way so you could talk without a crowd going past but close enough to see the band. "You don't mind if we sit here, do you?"

Willow had never seen Mitch, captain of the football team, or Dave, the quarterback, give way for anyone, but they leaped to their feet to give the table to Aaliyah. Willow felt uncomfortable, taking the table from the guys, but naturally anyone would be glad to give up their seat to Aaliyah."Of course, here, take my seat. Do you need anything else?" Mitch asked. "Can I get you a drink? Or something to eat maybe? The muffins are …"

"Thanks." Aaliyah's smile glimmered like the moon shimmering on water on a dark night. "Maybe later." Willow and Harmony sat on either side of Aaliyah with Cordy across the table. "So," Aaliyah asked, "what were you all up to without me?"

Willow couldn't think. They must have been doing something before Aaliyah'd arrived. Willow'd had a whole life to be doing things but … well, nothing came to mind.

"We were talking about how you'd all gone to the beach without me."

Oh, yeah.

"Oh, Aliyah! Your bikini was the cutest! I can't believe your Dad flew all the way to Italy just to get it for you." If Harmony'd been talking about anyone else, Willow would have thought she was gushing, but, well, she was talking about Aaliyah. It'd be kind of hard not to gush, and Willow sort of wished she'd been there, not to have been there exactly but to have seen Aaliyah in a bikini.

Aaliyah's hand, wafting like a bird in flight, didn't negate but enhanced the compliment. "That was rather sweet of him." As he reached over and stroked her fingers through Willow's hair hair, Willow forgot how to breath. "You have such lovely hair. Red is such a beautiful color." Lovely? Beautiful? Nobody'd ever called her hair lovely before, well, other than aunt Debby but since her hair was pretty much the same color … "We should meet tomorrow, before school, so I can fix it up for you, French braids maybe or a twist. It'd look exquisite."

Willow did forget how to breath. Her hair? Braids? Aaliyah wanted to braid her hair? "Uh, sure. Okay."

"Maybe we can pick you out another outfit too, something cute. I know the boy's would be all over you if you wore cuter outfits." Willow glanced down. Was there something wrong with her striped button down and jeans? Darryl had worn almost the same top … and, okay, maybe that wasn't the best argument.

"Great." Aaliyah turned back to the table. "Who do you think I should let take me to the Valentine's Day dance?"

"Well," Harmony drew out the word as if she couldn't think of anyone worthy to go to the dance with Aaliyah, which, now that Willow thought of it … "There is Mitch but he's been pretty steady with Amanda for, like, three months now."

"Oh, that's not a problem. I can get any boy I want. They're just that attracted to me." Aaliyah glanced over at Mitch who was standing against the wall as if waiting for her to call him back. He started walking over when she smiled at him but she shook her head and he slumped back as if needing the wall to hold him up. "Mitch? I don't know. I prefer an older guy, more of a real man. High-schoolers, well, they're just boys." She smiled at Harmony, and Willow wished Aaliyah would smile at her like that. "Who are you going with?"

"Me? Well, there's this guy, Bill, he's got this 350sl, it's red, and uh …" She glanced at Aaliyah as if for confirmation.

"Sounds dreamy."

"Well, he's asked me, but he's just got two other girls he's asked first and if neither one of them say yes, then he'll take me."

Aaliyah rested a hand on Harmony's. "Don't you worry about those other girls. I'll have a little talk with him. Nobody slights my friends."

"Really? You'd do that for me?"

"Harmony, are you listening to yourself? Don't you have any self-respect?"

Aaliyah's smile could have frozen water. "Come on, Cordy. Don't be jealous just because you don't have a real boyfriend."

"I don't have a what?"

"Harmony's told me all about your little geek."

Geek? Hey, wait, that was Xander she'd just … Okay, Aaliyah wasn't wrong, not exactly, but to say that like it was a bad thing? Geeks were in, weren't they?

"Hey, he's not a geek. Well, okay, maybe he is, but at least I'm not third on his list."

"Isn't that because he can't get anyone else?" Aaliyah wasn't wrong there. Xander didn't have much luck with girls. Willow had Oz, Buffy, well she wasn't really dating Angel but she was sort of interested in him, uh, except he'd gone all dark now so not so much interested as in needing to kill him. Willow sighed. What she'd meant was that Buffy wasn't interested in Xander, so who else was there for him but Cordy? "But enough of this." Aailyah's smile seemed like the sun eclipsing Cordy's jealous moon. "I need to powder my nose. You girls play nice."

As Aaliyah drifted towards the back of the club, Harmony lumbered to her feet. "You know Cordy, this is why nobody likes you. You're just mean. Bill is a perfectly nice guy and it's amazing that he's taking me to the dance, but you just can't stand to see anyone else happy, can you?"

"It's not that …"

"Well, I don't care what it is. If you can't be bothered to be nice, well, I'm going to join Aaliyah who's happy to have me as a friend."

She trailed after Aaliyah, much like detritus in the wake of a sailboat. Willow rose to her feet. "I'm, uh, I'm going with them."

"Great," Willow heard as she followed after Aaliyah. "Not even the losers will hang with me."


	6. Kool-Aid

Willow sat at the edge of the fountain but stretched forward, looking for Aaliyah. She sort of wanted to wait by Aaliyah's locker but that's where the cool girls waited and, yeah, she'd sat with Aaliyah last night but that had been night, which was sort of a magical time when anything could happen. What if the stark reality of daybreak had broken that spell or whatever it was that had let her sit with Aaliyah? She wasn't even sure what she'd do when she did see Aaliyah. What if Aaliyah had realized that she just wasn't popular? It was safer to sit here and wait, but what if Aaliyah didn't notice her waiting?

When a hand fell onto her shoulder, Willow jumped to her feet and turned, excited to see her new friend. Oh, it was only Xander. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, you see, I was on the phone with Cordelia for half the night. I didn't quite follow it all but there was something about a new girl and how you're hanging with the popular crowd."

Cordy had complained to Xander? Well, of course she had, just like a demon would. Demons were tricky like that. They'd use anything, stuff like cunning, wiles, and mayhem, to put down others. "And what if I am, hanging with the cool crowd? I mean, do you think I'm not good enough? Just because Cordy never saw any use for me, that doesn't mean Aaliyah might not think I'm cool, and she's much better than Cordy anyway. Aaliyah doesn't put people down. In fact, she likes me just as I am, smart and red haired, and she's gonna help me dress better so, you know, I'll fit in more and be cool too."

Xander's brow went all crinkly like it did when he was upset and, really, what had she seen in him anyway? Aaliyah was right. He was sort of a geek. "Willow, are you listening to yourself? Dress you so you'll fit in better? That's not you."

"Right, because you think that I'm not good enough …"

"No! No, Willow that's not it. I just meant that you don't care about clothes." Not care? What did he think, that she'd been born in a barn? "Okay, and obviously I didn't mean not caring about clothes, but you're science girl; you're smart; you're not all popular and vapid."

"Aaliyah's not vapid. She's nice. And maybe I don't want to be all smart all the time, maybe I do want to sort of fit in and wear nice clothes and talk about boys."

"Okay, Wills, you need to stop drinking the Kool-Aid."

"What? Because you think you're the only one who could like me? Except that you don't like me, do you? 'Cause you're, you know, dating Cordy, and what's up with that anyway? You know she's mean, right?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm just trying to figure out what's up. Cordelia's going on and on about this girl, saying she might be a robot or something like that Ted guy, and now you're moving into the popular zone?"

Willow gathered up all her dignity. "Just because Aaliyah thinks I'm perfect, just as I am, unlike Cordy who doesn't like anyone, that doesn't mean anything's going on."

"If she likes you the way you are, then how come she's gonna be dressing you different?"

"You just wouldn't understand, being a boy and all. It's different for girls."

"Willow!" Her name sounded like water gushing up out of a well, like a flock of birds settling for the night, like bees buzzing through lavender.

Aaliyah's dress, the exact same shade of amethyst as her eyes, sparkled in the sunlight and the green ribbons tied to her arms and calves danced like vines in a breeze. Her hair seemed to be extra shimmery like maybe she'd sprinkled it with diamond dust. "I've brought you the cutest little outfit. Come on, let's get you dressed."

"Uh, yuh …"

"Aren't you a cool drink of water. Willow, who's your friend?"

"Um, Xander … is his name. This is Xander."

"Pleased to meet you."

"Drink, uh, yeah." Xander pulled at the collar of his t-shirt. "Is it, um, hot out here?"

"A bit." Aaliyah took Willow's arm in hers – and Willow didn't think she'd ever get used to this, touching Aaliyah and it really was touching today because the ribbons didn't cover all of Aaliyah's skin, and why hadn't Willow ever thought of wearing ribbons like that? – and drew her toward the school. "He's awfully cute, too good for Cordy. Do you think Tina'd like him?"

And Aaliyah was right, Xander was cute. Willow'd liked him since forever so of course she knew he was cute and he was too good for Cordy even if he couldn't figure that out on his own.

"Come on, let's get your hair braided."


	7. Angel

Willow didn't remember there being a castle in Sunnydale but of course it couldn't have just popped out of nowhere. She must have just not been interested before she'd been invited to Aaliyah's home … She'd been invited to Aaliyah's home! She was standing just outside, right in the driveway. In a minute she'd knock, or no, someplace like this must have a doorbell. She'd ring the doorbell and she'd be let in and then she'd be inside Aaliyah's house! She pinched herself. Ow! Yep, must be real.

The doorbell sounded like windchimes. It was the most delightful doorbell that Willow had ever heard and, yeah, an unusual sound for a doorbell but Willow could see it catching on now that she'd heard it. She wanted to push it again, just to hear it, but the door opened.

When Willow had thought about what Aaliyah's butler would look like, she'd thought of Alfred from those Batman shows: old, British, sarcastic. Something like Giles but classier. This guy was young, in his late twenties maybe with hair as dark as a black hole. "You must be Miss Willow. Please, enter."

Wow, he was super polite but hadn't anyone told him about vampires and how you should never invite anyone into a home in Sunnydale?

"Willow!" Before she could blink, Willow found herself enveloped in a hug, surrounded by Aaliyah's soft scent: lilacs mixed with roses and something spicy sweet that Willow couldn't name.

Aaliyah's dress, a shimmering silver, sparkled almost as much as Aaliyah's shining eyes, so much so that Willow wondered if you could go blind from too much beauty. "Is that what you're wearing tonight? It's incredible."

"This old thing? Oh, I'm not leaving this on for tonight, but let's get you dolled up first."

Willow had never felt as glamorous as she did that night, stepping into the Bronze in a dress picked by Aaliyah, but the dress was short, really short and she wasn't quite sure what was holding the top up. She sort of figured she'd be embarrassed, but who was going to look at her – even if she was wearing an emerald green dress that Aaliyah said brought out the highlights of her hair, which had been twisted into a chignon! – when Aaliyah was wearing a transparent top, well not transparent all the way but just above her you-knows, with dark blue velvet between the transparent top and the glittering, wide, silver belt and a flouncy skirt that sort of looked like a ballet tutu but it was shorter and blue, and Willow wasn't sure how she'd missed it, but somehow until Aaliyah had put on the dress, Willow'd missed the flecks of silver in her amethyst eyes.

Harmony squealed and ran over. "Aaliyah, you look so perfect. That dress, it's amazing."

Aaliyah's blush reminded Willow of rosebuds just about to burst into bloom. "Thank you. What do you think of what I did to Willow?"

It felt as if Harmony hadn't even noticed her until that moment. "Willow? Wow! Even after Aaliyah had dressed you this morning, I never thought you could look so … so … good. Aaliyah, you're a miracle worker!"

All of the tables were taken, except of Aaliyah's. Well, of course, that made perfect sense. Nobody'd want to deprive Aaliyah. As they had the night before, Willow and Harmony sat on either side of Aaliyah, but this evening they'd been joined by the rest of the Cordettes, except they couldn't be called Cordettes since they were Aaliyah's friends now. Maybe she'd just think of them as friends? It seemed as if that should be a strange thought, but Willow couldn't understand why. They were all Aaliyah's friends. Of course she should think of them as friends.

As Aaliyah rested a hand on Harmony's, she seemed to glow as if reflecting Aaliyah's light. "So, Harmony," Aaliyah asked. "You're all set for the dance now, right?"

"Oh, yes!" Harmony squealed. "Bill said he never even liked those two other girls but he felt obliged to ask them because he felt sort of bad for them and stuff. Thank you so much for talking to him for me. You're the best!"

"No, Harmony, you're the best and you deserve the best. How about you, Willow? Who are you going with?"

"Well, I'm sort of, uh, meeting him there? He's in the band so he has to set up beforehand."

"Oh." Aaliyah's sigh sounded like the coo of a dove. It was just that beautiful. "You're so lucky, Willow, dating a member of the band. That's almost the coolest thing ever."

Yeah, it was pretty cool, now that she'd mentioned it. "But, you're going with someone, right? I mean, anybody'd be lucky to take you to the dance."

Aaliyah's smile suggested she had the most delightful secret. "I told you I like older men, right? Well, I found the perfect one. He's tall, dark, handsome. He's just so … so … romantic." She fluttered her eyes as if she couldn't keep them open against even the thought of his perfection. "He should be here any moment."

All the girls turned toward the door and sighed. Willow jumped to her feet, standing between Aaliyah and the threat. "We should really go, uh, someplace with a door maybe? Somebody's house? As in the house of someone who lives really, really close."

Willow felt as if her feet had been frozen to the ground as Aaliyah crossed the room. She wanted to cry out a warning but couldn't find her voice as she watched Aaliyah pulled – by the vampire! Didn't anyone see the vampire here? – into a passionate kiss. Aaliyah led him over, joining them at the table. "This is Angel. Isn't he dreamy?"

"Not as dreamy as you, my sweet." He handed her a single rose.

Willow took a step back. Where was her bookbag? She always kept a stake in her bookbag. Oh, right, she hadn't brought it. Aaliyah said it didn't go with her dress.

"Hey, Willow." Okay, and Angelus talking which was better than the maiming and killing. "Don't worry. I'm good now."

Okay, and she sort of wanted to believe him, but, you know, evil fish-killing vampire.

"Angel, maybe we could step outside?" Oh, good, it was Buffy. That was of the good, right? Because she'd kill Angelus and then they'd all be safe but, oh, Aaliyah wouldn't have a date for the Valentine's Day dance. Willow could give up Oz but since he was in the band Aaliyah wouldn't get to dance much, but maybe she didn't like dancing all that much so maybe that'd be okay and she had said dating a guy in a band was cool.

"Buffy, I was hoping to run into you."

"Yeah, me too but only in more of a driving a Mack truck over you kind of a way."

"You don't understand. Aaliyah, she cured me." He and Aaliyah were just standing there with their arms around each other and didn't she notice how cold he was? Oh, wait, cured him?

"Cured? Angel, you'd lost your …" Buffy didn't say "soul" which was good because Aaliyah's friends didn't know about vampires even if it seemed Aaliyah might. Well, of course she would. Aaliyah wouldn't let herself be deceived by a creature of the night. "It's not as if what you'd lost," Buffy added, "could be cured like the common cold."

"You can't cure colds," Willow heard herself saying. Oh, right, not the point.

"But I did," Aaliyah said. "I restored his soul and now we can be together forever." Willow's new friends looked sort of confused but Aaliyah smiled at them and they seemed to stop worrying about souls and vampires even if they probably didn't know about vampires yet.

"Right, and how exactly did you do this?" Buffy sort of had a point, but it was Aaliyah. If anyone could fix Angel, it'd be her.

"Does it matter?" Angel asked. "I'm happy, truly happy for the first time in two-hundred and forty-four years."

Buffy looked upset and, okay, Willow could see that, but how could she think she could take Aaliyah's man? "Sure, until she makes you perfectly happy and you go all evil again."

"I took care of that little moment of perfect happiness clause. I want my Angel to be happy forever."

So, if Aaliyah was dating Angel … "Oh! Oh! I just got it! You and Angel at the dance! Oh, that'll be so perfect. The two of you … it's like you were made for each other!"

The thought of Aaliyah and Angel together was so adorable that Willow almost didn't notice Cordy pull Buffy off to one side. She did notice though. Just what were those two up to?


	8. Confrontation

Willow had thought she'd feel strange, not waiting for Buffy to show at the start of the school day, but she didn't. She was standing by Aaliyah's locker with the rest of Aaliyah's friends – her own friends now – and waiting for Aaliyah. Nothing could be more right than that, well except for being with Aaliyah but that'd happen soon. Harmony kept going on about how Bill was awesome just because he had a car, and that didn't seem quite right. Maybe she should care about what he was like as a person? But who was she to complain about Harmony? Willow glanced down at her jumper. She'd thought that Tigger climbing out of the front pocket was cute when she'd put it on this morning but now it just seemed sort of childish. Aaliyah wouldn't disown her just because she'd worn it, right?"

"Girls." Aaliyah sang the word from down the hall and Willow wished she'd sing again. It was almost like listening to Marie Callas except that Willow had never heard her sing live, only on records, and of course Aaliyah was a better singer. Aaliyah's dress, a sleeveless white sheathe, only emphasized her golden tan and highlighted the perfection of her beautiful French braids. Willow blushed to think she'd worn French braids just the day before. She couldn't have looked anywhere near as good as Aaliyah in them.

Aaliyah hugged Harmony first and Willow tried not to let that bother her, but then Aaliyah was hugging her, wrapping her in that warm floral scent, and Willow felt so ecstatic that she almost heard trumpets playing on high. The world was perfect. Nothing could mar this perfect day.

"What's she doing here?"

At Harmony's words, Willow turned to see Cordy staring from the far end of the hall. She remembered how Cordy had pulled Buffy aside the night before. It was hard to believe that a demon would team up with the Slayer. Cordy must have lied to Buffy. This could be bad. "Maybe we should …"

"It's alright." Of course it was. Everything was fine if Aaliyah said it was. "The girl just needs a bit of guidance. Let me talk to her. You all wait here now!"

Once Aaliyah and Cordy had vanished around the corner, that sinking feeling returned. It wasn't that she didn't think Aaliyah could take care of herself, but she was … well, Willow didn't want to say too good because, well, good was good, but Aaliyah saw the best in everyone. Look how she'd seen something valuable in Willow and had brought her into the popular crowd. If Buffy and Cordy were up to something, Aaliyah wouldn't see it coming.

Willow turned to the other girls. Should she tell them what she suspected? They were her friends. They'd protect Aaliyah. Oh, but what if she didn't tell them and saved Aaliyah all on her own? Then she'd be Aaliyah's special friend and the others, they'd all be, well, they'd be friends too but they wouldn't be the special friend. "I've got, uh, in the computer lab. There's something I need to do, in the lab I mean, so I'll just go there now."

"But Aaliyah told us to wait."

"And I will be waiting, just, uh, in the lab. I mean, I'll be back before she is."

They muttered behind her but didn't move. Of course not. Aaliyah had told them to stay. Now that it came to it, Willow felt as if she was dragging her feet through molasses but Aaliyah didn't know the danger she was in. Willow had to save her. There was no one else.

She heard Cordy's voice from one of the science labs, harsh, almost like the braying of a donkey. "So, you're that Marr e'Zu demon, right? I mean, you'd sort of have to be. No one human could steal my crown."

So that's what Cordy was up to, telling Buffy that Aaliyah was a demon, but Buffy would see through that, right? Willow wished she'd listened more when Giles had described the demon. Did Cordy have special powers, like hidden claws or something? No, Giles had said something about bending reality to her purpose. Willow wasn't sure what that meant, but it couldn't be something Aaliyah could stand against on her own no matter how many martial arts she had a black belt in.

"So here's what I'm wondering," Cordy went on. "How come I haven't fallen for your little act? I mean, everyone else thinks you're the cat's pajamas, but me? I just think you're a bitch."

"Everyone needs a nemesis, an opposing force to make them look better. You can't be mine if you think I'm the best thing that's ever happened to you." Willow peered through the door to see Aaliyah and Cordy standing at the far end of the lab. Wow, Aaliyah was an amazing actress. She had to be terrified, facing a demon all on her own, playing along until she could get somewhere safe. "What do you think you can do about it?"

"This." Buffy popped up from behind the big lab desk with a crossbow.

"Buffy. No!" Willow didn't stop to think. She ran between Buffy's weapon and Aaliyah.

"Willow, get out of the way."

"No, I can't let you hurt her. You'll have to kill me first and even then I'll find some way to stop you." She'd been an idiot, running to the rescue by herself. She should have brought all the girls. Buffy was going to murder Aaliyah and it'd all be her fault.

"Willow." Aaliyah's voice bubbled with merriment like those little effervescent bubbles in soft drinks. "Step aside."

Willow stepped away even as she spoke. "But, she'll kill you."

"No, she won't. I promise."

"And here's a promise from me," Buffy said. "Nobody steals my boyfriend. Nobody."

The crossbow shot off an arrow. Willow turned, following its trail, dreading to see … The arrow struck home, straight into the wall behind Aaliyah.

"Buffy, just what do you think you're doing?" Cordy's angry words sounded like gnats buzzing on a hot afternoon.

"I can't," Buffy said. "She's so … perfect. How did you get your hair to glitter like that? I've never seen anything quite like it. I totally get it now, why Angel prefers you. You two make the perfect couple."

Oh, good, Buffy hadn't fallen for Cordy's machinations.

"I don't think so!"

Oh, God, Cordy had a sword. Where did she find a sword? Before Willow could even move, before Buffy'd made it even halfway across the room, Cordy'd shoved the sword into Aaliyah's gut. Gosh, and even her blood looked sort of pretty, sparkling in the light.

Aaliyah vanished into a puff of glitter.

Oh, God, Aaliyah was dead but … she had been a demon. Willow couldn't understand how she'd missed it. It seemed sort of obvious.

Cordelia's sword clattered as it hit the ground. "I'm the queen. Nobody takes my crown."


	9. Queen C

"Well," Buffy said. "At least there's no body to clean up."

Willow stared at the glitter still shimmering in the air, watching as it dissipated. Okay, Aaliyah had been a demon, which was bad, but Willow'd never felt so sure of herself. It'd been sort of nice, being part of the cool crowd. Being only herself again, she felt … bereft, as if she'd lost half her soul or her puppy or something.

She heard Buffy come up next to her. Oh, good, maybe Buffy'd put a comforting arm around her. It was what Aaliyah would have done, but Buffy wasn't Aaliyah. Buffy gave her a nudge. "Willow, don't you have something to say to Cordelia?"

Something to say? Like you took away my best friend? Like I'll never feel I'm special ever again? She turned toward Buffy who rolled her eyes toward Cordelia. Oh, right. "Uh, thank you for killing or um, you know, getting rid of the … the demon."

"Right, like I did it for you."

Sure, of course Cordelia hadn't done it for her because who noticed her anyway?

"You know, Willow, if I'd known you were that desperate to be popular … Who the hell am I kidding? I still wouldn't have let you in, but since you are Xander's best friend, not that I get what he sees in you, and you did look almost presentable when dolled up by that demon, I guess I could make room for you but only as low man on the totem pole. You'd have to prove your worth before you could officially join us. And you'd have to lose that softer side of Sears look. Don't worry." She took Willow by the arm. "We can go shopping after school and pick you out a whole new wardrobe. Now come on. We have to talk Harmony out of allowing Billy boy to take her to the dance and that's going to be hard because he is sort of cool but anyone a demon hooked her up with can't be good for her so start thinking of reasons why she should dump a guy who is obviously too good for her."

Willow thought over the previous two days. All that talk of boys and clothes. It'd been amazing. Everything she'd done with Aaliyah had been amazing. At the time. Now that she thought back on it, everything she'd done with Aailyah and the Cordettes? It had been sort of boring. Dull really. Let's face it, helping Buffy save the world was a lot more interesting.

Cordelia took two more steps without Willow before turning back. She stared, looking Willow up and down. "You've got to be kidding me."

Oh good, she didn't have to explain.

"Right, whatever. I was just being kind anyway. I thought you'd appreciate tips on makeup, clothes, and personal hygiene but if you don't, well, I have better things to do."

"Oh, sure, of course. We get that."

As Cordelia walked off, Buffy turned to Willow. "Do you think we should follow? Just to make sure she's okay."

"It would be the friendly thing to do."

The Cordettes were still standing where Aaliyah had left them. The girls didn't seem to know how to treat Cordelia. "Hi Cordy, um, Cordelia I mean," Harmony said. "Taking a break from your geek boyfriend?"

Cordelia just stood there and stared. Harmony looked down at the ground and then anywhere but directly at Cordelia. "Harmony, are you trying to take me on?"

Harmony glanced at their friends. None would meet her gaze. "Um, no?"

"Good, because you'd lose." Cordelia turned and walked off. After a half-dozen steps, she turned back. "Are you coming or not?" The Cordettes glanced at each other before trailing behind like geese in flight, following their leader.

"Uh," Willow asked. "Are we sure she's not a demon?"

Buffy gave her an amused glance. "Come on. Let's tell Giles the Marr e'Zu demon is dead."

"The queen is dead." Willow muttered to herself but Buffy heard.

"Yep, the queen is dead. Long live the queen."


End file.
